Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

Williams Martini Racing announced today that Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas are confirmed as official
drivers for next season; "Here I feel good and I' m happy I can continue another year" said Massa "this year we are
beginning to show all our potential"

Result of the qualifying :

1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:24.109
2. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:24.383 +0.274
3. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:24.697 +0.588
4. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:24.865 +0.756
5. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren - 1:25.314 +1.205
6. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:25.379 +1.270
7. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 1:25.430 +1.321
8. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing - 1:25.436 +1.327
9. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:25.709 +1.600
10. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:25.944 +1.835
Q2
11. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 1:26.070 +1.961
12. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:26.110 +2.001
13. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1:26.157 +2.048
14. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:26.279 +2.170
15. Adrian Sutil - Sauber - 1:26.588 +2.479
16. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber - 1:26.692 +2.583
Q1
17. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:27.520 +3.411
18. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:27.632 +3.523
19. Kamui Kobayashi - Caterham - 1:27.671 +3.562
20. Jules Bianchi - Marussia F1 Team - 1:27.738 +3.629
21. Max Chilton - Marussia F1 Team - 1:28.247 +4.138
22. Marcus Ericsson - Caterham - 1:28.562 +4.453

Qualifying Time : 1:24.109
Pole : Lewis Hamilton
Team Bat. : Valtteri Bottas > Felipe Massa
Grid Pos : Pastor Maldonado


Hamilton on pole, Williams lock out second row :
Qualifying for tomorrow's Italian Grand Prix took place at Monza with the Tifosi out in force and echoes of the Mercedes Spa incident still on a lot of people minds. Nine of the last eleven races have been won from pole, so getting that all important front row position will be coveted. Kvyat has been given a 10 grid penalty for the use of a sixth Renault power unit. Grojean's Lotus had a fluid leak before qualifying started. Q1: Both Marussia's were the first cars out with the Caterham of Kobayashi following them just behind. Kobayashi sets the first timed lap at 1:28.299 and both Force India's set lap times splitting both the Caterhams. Kvyat set the first competitive pace of 1:26.734 . Alonso then set a time taking the top spot briefly before Rosberg crossed the line with a 1:25.862. A lap later Hamilton went quicker. Massa then split the two Mercedes being only 0.032 off Hamilton. Kvyat had a big lock up into turn one pushing the limit of how late he could break. At the half way stage of Q1 nineteen cars were out on track and times were dropping. Mercedes and Williams set the pace with only 0.400 between 1st and 4th. Massa then went fastest by 0.043 but Rosberg then improved and did a 1:25.493. Hamilton gave it his all and goes top. Grosjean headed out on track after having a fluid leaking problem at the start of the session and went out on track with only 5 minutes remaining of Q1. A lot of the cars were pushing the track limits at Parabolica trying to get the best line to finish off their laps. Lotus are still finding it hard to find a good pace. Mercedes toped the time sheets with Williams, McLaren & Ferrari close behind. The cars eliminated from Q1 were Maldonardo, Grosjean, Kobayashi, Bianchi, Chilton and Ericcson. Q2: All the cars went out on the medium compound tyre to get the most out of the cars. The Force India of Hulkenburg was the first car out and took advantage of the empty track. Rosberg then set the fastest lap so far, with a 1:24.682. Bottas was closely following the German. Hamilton then crossed the line a tenth quicker taking the top spot. Alonso had a bit of moment on Parabolica with some under steer but the Spaniard had it under control. Raikkonen ran off a little at the second chicane and had to back out of his lap, which cost the Finn as he qualified 11th. The cars eliminated from Q2 were Kvyat, Raikkonen, Vergne, Hulkenburg, Sutil and Gutierrez. Q3: Perez was the first car out on track and went onto set the first timed lap of Q3 with a 1:26.230. Soon after both Mercedes' and Bottas went out to complete a timed lap. Rosberg put a new set of medium compound tyres on and set the fastest time. Hamilton then knocked four tenths off his team-mate's time soon after. Rosberg made a last ditch attempt to take pole from Hamilton but crossed the line two tenth behind. Hamilton takes pole with 1:24.109 in Monza closely followed by Rosberg in second and Bottas in third. The rest of grid is; Massa, Magnussen, Button, Alonso, Vettel, Ricciardo and Perez.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the 3rd practice session :

1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:25.519
2. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 1:25.931 +0.412
3. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:26.090 +0.571
4. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:26.114 +0.595
5. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:26.242 +0.723
6. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing - 1:26.290 +0.771
7. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:26.327 +0.808
8. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 1:26.437 +0.918
9. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:26.482 +0.963
10. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:26.608 +1.089
11. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren - 1:26.829 +1.310
12. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber - 1:27.207 +1.688
13. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:27.312 +1.793
14. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1:27.479 +1.960
15. Adrian Sutil - Sauber - 1:27.498 +1.979
16. Jules Bianchi - Marussia F1 Team - 1:28.025 +2.506
17. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:28.137 +2.618
18. Kamui Kobayashi - Caterham - 1:28.265 +2.746
19. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:28.459 +2.940
20. Max Chilton - Marussia F1 Team - 1:28.579 +3.060
21. Marcus Ericsson - Caterham - 1:29.251 +3.732
22. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - no time set

Hamilton on top as Rosberg hits trouble :
Lewis Hamilton returned to the top of the order during final practice for the Italian Grand Prix, while Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg this time suffered technical trouble in the form of a gearbox gremlin. Hamilton, delayed on Friday afternoon by an electrical fault, comfortably set the pace on the Hard tyre runs, before working his way down to a 1:25.519 on Mediums, which yielded less gains than anticipated. This all came despite the Briton's repeated radio complaints about his brakes and claims that his DRS device was not working correctly. Rosberg, meanwhile, was the only driver unable to post a time, with his session-ending shifting problem striking after just three laps. Ferrari again finished closest to Mercedes, this time in the form of Fernando Alonso, who was four tenths adrift. Williams duo Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa followed in third and fourth respectively, ahead of McLaren's Jenson Button and reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel, unhappy with a "misbehaving" MGU-K. Having been best of the rest on Friday, Kimi Räikkönen wound up seventh after an error at Parabolica. Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat, set to drop 10 places on the grid after becoming the first driver to install a sixth power unit element, Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo and Force India's Nico Hülkenberg completed the top 10. Whilst Hamilton was comfortably clear at the front, positions two to 10 were covered by just 0.677 seconds. Kevin Magnussen struggled with brake balance en route to 11th, ahead of Mexicans Esteban Gutiérrez and Sergio Pérez, the latter losing a sizeable amount of track time after his Force India stopped at Curva Grande. Jean-Éric Vergne was over a second down on team-mate Kvyat in 14th position, while Adrian Sutil recovered from an early hydraulics issue to place 15th, three tenths slower than the sister machine of Gutiérrez. Jules Bianchi again put Marussia ahead of Lotus drivers Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean, who were split by Caterham's Kamui Kobayashi, while Max Chilton and Marcus Ericsson were the last of the timed runners.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the 2nd practice session from the GP of Italy :

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:26.225
2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:26.286 +0.061
3. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:26.331 +0.106
4. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 1:26.565 +0.340
5. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:26.758 +0.533
6. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:26.762 +0.537
7. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing - 1:26.762 +0.537
8. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren - 1:26.881 +0.656
9. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:26.935 +0.710
10. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:26.992 +0.767
11. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:27.079 +0.854
12. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:27.227 +1.002
13. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 1:27.476 +1.251
14. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber - 1:27.840 +1.615
15. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1:27.929 +1.704
16. Adrian Sutil - Sauber - 1:28.029 +1.804
17. Jules Bianchi - Marussia F1 Team - 1:28.659 +2.434
18. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:28.700 +2.475
19. Max Chilton - Marussia F1 Team - 1:28.786 +2.561
20. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:29.085 +2.860
21. Kamui Kobayashi - Caterham - 1:29.178 +2.953
22. Marcus Ericsson - Caterham - 1:29.275 +3.050

Rosberg quickest, Hamilton delayed in practice 2 :
Nico Rosberg was the fastest man during second practice for the Italian Grand Prix after Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who ultimately recovered to complete a one-two, hit early technical trouble.Hamilton's Mercedes failed to fire up at the start of the session, a problem that was later linked to the electronics and cost him an hour of running. In the meantime, Rosberg worked his way down to a 1:26.225 on the Medium tyre, six hundredths up on Hamilton, who was baulked by Toro Rosso rival Jean-Éric Vergne through Parabolica on his best lap. Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso ended a positive opening day for Ferrari on the team's home soil, classifying third and fourth respectively. But of more encouragement to the Scuderia will be the fact that Räikkönen was just a tenth adrift of Rosberg's time. Importantly, Hamilton topped the overall Friday timesheets at Monza, courtesy of his Hard-tyre effort in FP1. Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa broke into the top 10 for Williams after a low key first session, ending up fifth and ninth. Jenson Button, reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel and Kevin Magnussen split the pair. McLaren drivers Button and Magnussen had shown strong pace on Primes, but dropped away on Options. After his morning practice issues, Daniel Ricciardo was final man to break the 1m26s barrier in 10th position. Force India's Sergio Pérez, making up for lost time in FP1, and Nico Hülkenberg followed in 11th and 12th, ahead of staggered Toro Rosso and Sauber drivers Daniil Kvyat, Esteban Gutiérrez, Vergne and Adrian Sutil. Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton sandwiched Pastor Maldonado's Lotus, while the latter's team-mate, Romain Grosjean, endured a particularly torrid session en route to 20th, running wide on numerous occasions. Caterham duo Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson completed a field covered by just over three seconds.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the 1st practice session of the GP of Italy :

1 :Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 1m26.187s
2 : Jenson Button - McLaren/Mercedes - 1m26.810s + 0.623s
3 : Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 1m26.995s + 0.808s
4 : Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 1m27.169s + 0.982s
5 : Kevin Magnussen - McLaren/Mercedes - 1m27.228s + 1.041s
6 : Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull/Renault - 1m27.271s + 1.084s
7 : Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari - 1m27.493s + 1.306s
8 : Sergio Perez - Force India/Mercedes - 1m27.687s + 1.500s
9 : Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso/Renault - 1m27.741s + 1.554s
10 : Nico Hulkenberg - Force India/Mercedes - 1m28.112s + 1.925s
11 : Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber/Ferrari - 1m28.114s + 1.927s
12 : Valtteri Bottas - Williams/Mercedes - 1m28.148s + 1.961s
13 : Felipe Massa - Williams/Mercedes - 1m28.150s + 1.963s
14 : Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso/Renault - 1m28.300s + 2.113s
15 : Giedo van der Garde - Sauber/Ferrari - 1m28.429s + 2.242s
16 : Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull/Renault - 1m28.487s + 2.300s
17 : Daniel Juncadella - Force India/Mercedes - 1m29.192s + 3.005s
18 : Pastor Maldonado - Lotus/Renault - 1m29.512s + 3.325s
19 : Max Chilton - Marussia/Ferrari - 1m30.017s + 3.830s
20 : Jules Bianchi - Marussia/Ferrari - 1m30.081s + 3.894s
21 : Charles Pic - Lotus/Renault - 1m30.125s + 3.938s
22 : Roberto Merhi - Caterham/Renault - 1m30.704s + 4.517s
23 Marcus Ericsson - Caterham/Renault - 1m30.948s + 4.761s

Lewis Hamilton leads Jenson Button in first practice :
Lewis Hamilton was fastest in opening practice for Formula 1's 2014 Italian Grand Prix at Monza by 0.623 seconds from McLaren's Jenson Button, with Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg third. It was not a hotly contested session at the sharp end as the majority of the frontrunners swapped to race simulation runs after setting their quick laps. As is usual in practice one, there was a brief flurry of activity towards the end of the first half hour while teams took advantage of the extra set of tyres they are permitted to use before handing back to Pirelli at the 30-minute mark. Several drivers observed that the orange-striped hard-compound tyres were taking longer than expected to reach a working temperature. Max Chilton was the first to benefit from the Parabolica's controversially revised run-off area, running wide and brushing the astroturf 15 minutes into the session. Kevin Magnussen and Button provided demonstrated that the MP4-29 is not lacking straightline speed, setting the early pace on the hard-compound tyres before being overhauled by the 'works' Mercedes. Button then sliced three tenths of a second off his previous best during the course of his second run, but his tenure at the top of the timesheets lasted just eight minutes before Hamilton went top. McLaren did not attempt to respond, switching Button on to a used set of tyres to complete his programme. Fernando Alonso brought his Ferrari to within a second of the Mercedes with a late effort, lapping in 1m27.169s. Kimi Raikkonen was nearly four tenths off, having flirted with the Parabolica run-off on his flying lap. Sebastian Vettel was the fastest of the two Red Bulls in sixth, behind Magnussen, but Daniel Ricciardo completed just 12 laps and had to retire to his garage with a power unit issue with 30 minutes to go. Both Williams were outside the top 10 in spite of being among the quickest through the speed trap, and Valtteri Bottas was noticeably on the edge of the FW36's envelope in several places on the track. There was disappointment, too for Lotus; it took most of the session for Pastor Maldonado to summon a lap clean enough to overhaul both Marussias. A handful of teams ran test drivers in addition to or in place of their regulars: Daniel Juncadella sat in for Sergio Perez at Force India initially, Charles Pic for Romain Grosjean at Lotus, Giedo van der Garde for Adrian Sutil at Sauber, and Roberto Merhi for Kamui Kobayashi at Caterham. Perez took over from Juncadella with 20 minutes to go and was straight on the pace on his first run, slotting into the top 10 and outpacing Nico Hulkenberg by nearly half a second. He was also fastest of all through the speed trap. F1 debutant Merhi completed 29 laps to Caterham team-mate Marcus Ericsson's 16 and rounded out the session two tenths faster.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

The Italian Grand Prix - Autodromo di Monza 5/6/7 September 2014

Monza is a legendary circuit in the history of races(auto and also moto, for many years). The first Grand Prix was held here in 1922. The F1 championship began only in 1950 and Monza as Monaco and Spa already existed before. The Autodromo Nazionale of Monza has hosted the most number of F1 Grand Prix from 1950.
1 Monza 63 GP: (will be 64 in this week end)
2 Monaco 61 GP
3 Silverstone 48 GP
4 Spa Francorchamps 47 GP
These circuits are irreplaceable and invaluable for the history of the races.

Monza has always been a fast track and has the highest average lap speed of any other tracks on the calendar. There are long straight and some heavy braking zones. it is a very demanding track for tyres and requires a specific very low downforce kit
Pirelli has opted for the same compounds as last year. Will be used “medium tyres with white markings” and “hard tyres with orange markings”
winning strategy last year: 1 pit stop for the winner (only 4 pilots have made two pit stops, the others only one)

Vettel 2008: it was his first win and pole position in F1 at the wheel of Toro Rosso(Ferrari engine)
And was the first and only victory for a Ferrari engine in a customer chassis.
Until now 222 wins for Ferrari engine (221 times on a Ferrari car)

For the game in the last 10 years: 8 times the pole position man won the Grand Prix

A few weeks ago, the legendary Parabolica corner has been altered. The run off area was asphalted
In my opinion, run off zones have to be in gravel sand or grass so a mistake is penalised heavily.
A few years ago, they did the same disaster at Pouhon (Spa Francorchamps)

2011 Podium: Vettel (Red Bull) – 2° Button and 3° Alonso.
Fastest lap: Hamilton – pole position : Vettel (Red Bull) 1.22.275

2012 Podium: Hamilton(Mc Laren) – 2° Perez and 3° Alonso
Fastest lap: Rosberg – Pole position : Hamilton (Mc Laren) 1.24.010

2013 Podium: Vettel (Red Bull) – 2° Alonso and 3° Webber
Fastest lap: Hamilton – pole position : Vettel(Red Bull); 1.23.755

the winners
3 wins: Vettel (2008-2011-2013)
2 wins: Alonso (2007-2010)
1 win: Hamilton (2012)

pole position:
3 pole: Vettel (2008-2011-2013)
2 pole: Alonso (2007-2010)
2 pole: Hamilton (2009-2012)
1 pole: Raikkonen(2006)

Fastest lap
3: Raikkonen (2005-2006-2008);
2: Alonso (2007-2010);
2: Hamilton(2011-2013)
1: Rosberg(2012) and Sutil(2009)

Podium(winner+second+third) for current pilots at Monza
6 (2 win +2 second +2 third) Alonso
4 (0+3+1) Button
3 (3+0+0) Vettel
3 (0 +1 +2) Raikkonen
2 (1+1+0) Hamilton
1 (0+1+0) Perez
1 (0+0+1) Massa

best regards

a Fairytale ,, or ???

[Versteckter Link - Registrierung notwendig]



schubert

Similar to what happened in McLaren between Hamilton and Alonso some years ago, Rosberg and Hamilton are fighting for the Championship but obviously the team is not happy especially if Red Bull can take advantage of the situation.

Update :

Magnussen drops from sixth to twelfth after penalty :
Kevin Magnussen has been handed a 20-second post-race penalty following an incident with Fernando Alonso during the Belgian Grand Prix.The duo were fighting for fourth position with two laps to go when Magnussen forced Alonso off the track at the Les Combes corner. Alonso eventually dropped down to eighth place, but was elevated to seventh after Magnussen was found guilty of not leaving enough room for his Ferrari rival. "The driver of car 20 was defending his position on the straight between Turns 4 and 5 [Raidillon and Les Combes], a significant portion of car #14 was alongside car #20. The driver of car #20 did not leave enough space for car #14 and forced the car off the track," said an FIA statement. Alonso was relatively unflustered by the late-race incident, saying: "When you are fighting for lower positions, sixth or seventh or whatever, it's a little bit less important.
"You just try to have fun, with safety as well, but it was not a big deal." The penalty drops Magnussen from fifth to 12th and out of the points. Force India's Nico Hulkenberg moves up to 10th and gets the final point.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Italianfan wrote:High tension in Mercedes after the incident between Rosberg and Hamilton : "It's unacceptable" said team manager Toto Wolff
"we can't go on like that", also Niki Lauda agrees : "Toto is absolutely right, things like that can't happen after only 2 laps, Lewis is
calm but he can't understand what's going on : he was ahead, so Nico is responsible of the accident, it's clear".

There are several phrases that can explain what happens in Mercedes:
Too many cocks in the henhouse
Many captains and few sailors in boat

This had to happen sooner or later.

High tension in Mercedes after the incident between Rosberg and Hamilton : "It's unacceptable" said team manager Toto Wolff
"we can't go on like that", also Niki Lauda agrees : "Toto is absolutely right, things like that can't happen after only 2 laps, Lewis is
calm but he can't understand what's going on : he was ahead, so Nico is responsible of the accident, it's clear".

The result of the Belgian GP :

1. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing
2. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP 1:50.511 + 3.383
3. Valtteri Bottas - Williams + 28.032
4. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari + 36.815
5. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing + 52.196
6. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren + 54.262
7. Jenson Button - McLaren + 54.580
8. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari + 1m01.162
9. Sergio Perez - Force India + 1m04.293
10. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso + 1m05.347
11. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India + 1m05.697
12. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso + 1m11.920
13. Felipe Massa - Williams + 1m15.975
14. Adrian Sutil - Sauber + 1m22.447
15. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber + 1m30.825
16. Max Chilton - Marussia F1 Team + 1 lap
17. Marcus Ericsson Caterham Geen tijd + 1 lap
Did Not Finish :
18. Jules Bianchi - Marussia F1 Team
19. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP
20. Romain Grosjean - Lotus
21. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus
22. Andre Lotterer - Caterham

Fastest lap : Nico Rosberg - 1:50.511
Pitstop Pastor Maldonado : DNF
Bat. 2 Teams : Daniel Ricciardo > Valtteri Bottas
Grid Pos. Jean-Eric Vergne : 12th place

Ricciardo wins as Mercedes' Hamilton/Rosberg collide :
Daniel Ricciardo recorded his second consecutive victory, as Formula 1 championship protagonists Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton collided in the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix. The Red Bull racer is making a habit of picking up the pieces when Mercedes trips up, and the Australian executed another flawless race to fend off the recovering Rosberg by just 3.3 seconds and record the third victory of his flourishing grand prix career. Rosberg extended his championship lead after a recovery drive to second, while Mercedes team-mate Hamilton posted his third retirement of the season. Kimi Raikkonen looked set to score his first podium of the season for Ferrari, but ultimately lost out to the Williams of Valtteri Bottas in the closing stages, while reigning F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel won a thrilling late battle for fifth with the McLarens of Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button, and Fernando Alonso's Ferrari. The Mercedes drivers locked out the front row by some distance in wet qualifying, but collided on lap two of the race, as slow-starting poleman Rosberg attempted to re-pass Hamilton for the lead on the run to Les Combes. Rosberg had a look around the outside of his team-mate but clipped Hamilton's left rear tyre as he backed out of the move and tried to tuck back in.
Hamilton limped back to the pits with a puncture and floor damage from a brief excursion, and spent the rest of his race battling a lack of pace in his W05 - and pleading with his team to retire his car to save engine mileage. He eventually retired to the pits with five laps to run. Rosberg was told to stay out with a slightly damaged front wing after the incident. That made the championship leader vulnerable, but he retained the lead as the top six ran in a close train early on, before the German dived into the pits to begin the first round of stops on lap eight of 44 and took a new nose. That dropped him behind Raikkonen's Ferrari, which stopped on the same lap as Rosberg and leapt up from sixth to second as the first round of stops played out. The pit delay ultimately left Rosberg fourth, behind Vettel's Red Bull, while new leader Ricciardo (who crucially passed his Red Bull team-mate when the reigning Vettel saved a wild moment on the exit of Pouhon on lap five) eased away from Raikkonen at the front. Rosberg switched to an alternative three-stop strategy against the conventional two, and dived into the pits for an early second stop on lap 17, having failed to pass Vettel and fallen behind the Williams of Bottas. The Mercedes driver used his second set of medium Pirelli tyres to good effect, despite concerns over a front vibration, and rose back up to second when the other frontrunners made their final stops. Rosberg had to pit for a third time with 10 laps to go, which relieved the pressure on Ricciardo and dropped the Mercedes back to fourth, behind Raikkonen and the Williams of Valtteri Bottas, which slipstreamed past on the run to Les Combes. Rosberg was quickly back through to third on his fresh set of tyres, passing Bottas at Blanchimont and then nailing Raikkonen easily on the Kemmel straight on the following lap. The championship leader trailed Ricciardo by just under 20s with eight laps to run and needed to be around 2.5s per lap faster than the Australian to overhaul him, but he ultimately fell short by 3.3s at the finish. Bottas claimed his fourth podium of 2014 in third, while Raikkonen recorded the best result of his season in fourth. Vettel had been in podium contention, but had to come back through the pack after switching to a three-stop strategy. He took advantage of the battling between Magnussen, Alonso and Button to claim fifth, while Magnussen just held off McLaren team-mate Button for sixth. Alonso - who incurred a five-second penalty for his Ferrari mechanics being late away from the grid - damaged his Ferrari in the late battling, which included a three-abreast moment at Les Combes, and trailed home eighth after starting fourth. Sergio Perez and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat rounded out the points scorers in ninth and 10th, with Kvyat just holding off Perez's Force India team-mate Nico Hulkenberg by 0.3s. The second Williams of Felipe Massa finished a disappointing 13th, behind the second Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 12 RACES :

1. Mercedes 411 points
2. Red Bull 254 points
3. Ferrari 158 points
4. Williams 150 points
5. McLaren 111 points
6. Force India 100 points
7. Toro Rosso 18 points
8. Lotus 8 points
9. Marussia 2 points

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 12 RACES :

1. N. Rosberg GER Mercedes 220 points
2. L. Hamilton GBR Mercedes 191 points
3. D. Ricciardo AUS Red Bull 156 points
4. F. Alonso ESP Ferrari 119 points
5. V. Bottas FIN Williams 110 points
6. S. Vettel GER Red Bull 98 points
7. N. Hulkenberg GER Force India 69 points
8. J. Button GBR McLaren 66 points
9. K. Magnussen DEN McLaren 45 points
10. F. Massa BRA Williams 40 points
11. K. Raikkonen FIN Ferrari 39 points
12. S. Perez MEX Force India 31 points
13. J. E. Vergne FRA Toro Rosso 11 points
14. R. Grosjean FRA Lotus 8 points
15. D. Kvyat RUS Toro Rosso 7 points
16. J. Bianchi FRA Marussia 2 points

Result from the qualifying of the Belgian GP :

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 2:05.591
2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 2:05.819 +0.228
3. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing - 2:07.717 +2.126
4. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 2:07.786 +2.195
5. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 2:07.911 +2.320
6. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 2:08.049 +2.458
7. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren - 2:08.679 +3.088
8. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 2:08.780 +3.189
9. Felipe Massa - Williams - 2:09.178 +3.587
10. Jenson Button - McLaren - 2:09.776 +4.185
Q2
11. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 2:09.377 +3.786
12. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - 2:09.805 +4.214
13. Sergio Perez - Force India - 2:10.084 +4.493
14. Adrian Sutil - Sauber - 2:10.238 +4.647
15. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 2:11.087 +5.496
16. Jules Bianchi - Marussia F1 Team - 2:12.470 +6.879
Q1
17. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 2:11.261 +5.670
18. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 2:11.267 +5.676
19. Max Chilton - Marussia F1 Team - 2:12.566 +6.975
20. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber - 2:13.414 +7.823
21. Andre Lotterer - Caterham - 2:13.469 +7.878
22. Marcus Ericsson - Caterham - 2:14.438 +8.847

Qualifying Time : 2:05.591
Pole : Nico Rosberg
Team Battle : Fernando Alonso > Kimi Räikkönen
Grid Position Valtteri Bottas : 6th place


Rosberg on pole, Hamilton makes mistakes :
Qualifying for tomorrows Belgian Grand Prix got under way at the famous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Rain fell before qualifying, which made the asphalt wet for when the green light started flashing at the end of the pitlane. Q1: The session started and some drivers came out on intermediate tyres and some on wet, just trying to find the most suitable tyre for the conditions. Drivers were finding it hard under braking for the bus-stop chicane and running wide onto the run-off area. Hamilton, Lotterer and Kvyat were just a few of the culprits. Esteban Gutierrez stopped at Curve Paul Frere and had to be pushed by the marshals behind the barriers. Double waved yellow flags were used, no red flag. Throughout the session, the drivers kept out because the track was slowly drying out and times where falling down. Maldonado spun at the bus-stop chicane after he turned in to the corner and the back end just stepped out and spun him round. Vettel was following a bit behind and had to take avoiding action. The cars that were eliminated at the end of Q1 were; Maldonado, Hulkenberg, Chilton, Gutierrez, Lotterer and Ericsson. Q2: The first few minutes of Q2 was ok but then the rain started to come down again and drivers tried to put a timed lap on the board with the inters on the car before it got to heavy. There were still many lock-ups going on and drivers running wide onto the run-off area. Hamilton had a moment at the top of Raidillon but was able to keep control of the car . Button came over the radio wanting to change his gloves due to the ones he was wearing being too wet. Kyvat was waving his hand in frustration, maybe to someone on the radio but whilst he was doing that, he lost the car and did a half spin between Les Combes and Malmedy. The drivers that were eliminated from Q2 were; Kyvat, Vergne, Perez, Sutil, Grosjean and Bianchi. Q3: Vettel and Hamilton were waiting at the end of the pitlane for the green light to shine and get Q3 under way. Hamilton on his first flying lap, went wide at the first corner after his front right brake was too cold and had already messed up his lap. The sun was belting down on the famous Belgium track in Q3, so typical Spa weather! On Hamilton's final lap, the Brit got the first corner a bit scruffy again but went quickest in the first sector. Ricciardo went wide coming out of Blanchimont, which cost the Aussie. He still went fourth but then got moved down to fifth after Alonso went fourth after him. Ricciardo would have been third if he hadn’t made the mistake. Nico Rosberg will start tomorrows Belgian Grand Prix from pole, with team-mate Hamilton second and Vettel in the Red Bull third. The rest of the top ten is as follows; Alonso, Ricciardo, Bottas, Magnussen, Raikkonen, Massa and Button.


Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi